Tonight I watched the terrific documentary “Bidder 70″ (2012) by Beth & George Gage, that tells the story of what happened after Tim DeChristopher disrupted an illegal BLM oil & gas lease auction in the last days of the Bush administration, December 19, 2008. It’s on Netflix now!

The message of the film is that in corporate-controlled America, the only power we have as individuals is the power of not backing down and not going away. DeChristopher provided everyone with a perfect example of how we can do that. That’s why the PTB had to send him to federal prison. Not the Wall Street fraudsters who crashed the economy. Not the greedy oil companies who polluted the Gulf of Mexico. Not the right-wing protesters who defy the BLM by riding ATVs in the wilderness. Not the millionaire ranchers who refuse to pay their grazing fees on public land. Anybody who’s onboard with the corporatist agenda has nothing to fear.

Judge Dee Benson actually admitted that he sentenced Tim DeChristopher to two years imprisonment not for anything he did (“bid-walking” in a BLM lease auction is so common they have a name for it, and it has never been prosecuted before) — it was for what he said. The First Amendment does not protect you if you go against Corporate America.

I ought to mention that the documentary is very well done, and follows Tim DeChristopher from his heroic, thoughtful and moral act of civil disobedience until the day he was taken away to federal prison.

The story includes the brave, principled primary campaign of Claudia Wright – who sought to replace Rep. Jim Matheson with a genuine Democrat.

Since some of us were present at events depicted in the film, we can vouch for its authenticity.

Tim DeChristopher wasn’t able to enter the public conciseness with money or power. He did it with a boatload of youthful knowledge and determination.

I hate to say he’s right when he has some blame for the “baby boomers”, (still hate that term. Who wouldn’t?). Let me just say this; We voted for Al Gore and he won. Al Gore is noted for his early work on climate change and the internet. Without the internet, George W. Bush would have been known as a brave fighter pilot instead of a failed oil baron who got bailed out by the Bin Laden family and DeChristopher would have been known only as a criminal.

John Kerry defeated Bush too, but refused to fight for his victory. By that time, Kerry could have made a perfect case against the voting machines and didn’t. I’m not a fan of John Kerry.

“Bidder 70″ is a great film. The people involved were interested in the information they could give to us. It wasn’t about money.